CHAPTER 174: CHAPTER 174: EVEN MY PET PIG IS SMARTER

174

Zhao Zhitong’s little face wrinkled. This old woman, she thought, is even more detestable and disgusting than my stepmother!

"AHEM." At this point, Zhao Dong couldn’t bear it any longer. As a grown man, it truly wasn’t right for him to engage in a shouting match with a sharp-tongued woman on this crowded street. But that woman’s mouth is simply too foul! he thought, his expression incredibly unsightly. After clearing his throat, he set down the handcart, handed a piece of broken silver to the vendor, and said with a cold face, "Alright, stop arguing! We never intended for our sister-in-law to pay for us. Even if we are destitute, we still have enough money for a hairpin!"

But Zhao Zhitong was a step quicker. She snatched the broken silver from Zhao Dong’s hand, fished out her own silver from her small pocket, and said in a sweet, childish voice, "Daddy, use my money. I’m buying it for Mommy."

With that, she placed the silver firmly on the stall counter.

Seeing a mere child carrying pieces of silver, Wang Yanzi and Wang Pozi were both stunned for a moment. Then, a trace of disdain appeared on their faces. She’s really putting on an act, they thought.

In the end, perhaps out of vanity, or perhaps just wanting to see Sun Lan and her family suffer, Wang Yanzi stepped forward, snatched the hairpin from the vendor’s hand, and shrieked, "Two taels and fifty coins, right? Vendor, I want this!"

After speaking, she shot Sun Lan and Zhao Zhitong a triumphant look.

Zhao Zhitong was thoroughly displeased. Planting her small hands on her hips, she huffed, "You woman, you’re so unreasonable! I was buying this hairpin first. Don’t you understand ’first come, first served’? Even a little child like me understands that. Auntie, you’re so old, don’t you understand?"

Then, feigning a sudden realization, she continued, "Oh, I get it! Your family must be very poor, right? So poor that your mother couldn’t afford to send you to school? That’s why you’re so barbaric and unreasonable."

She even nodded definitively after saying this.

The little girl’s childish, innocent-sounding voice delivered words that were astonishingly perceptive. The surrounding crowd couldn’t help but cover their mouths and laugh.

Being mocked like this, and called old, Wang Yanzi’s entire face contorted with anger. Wang Pozi also glared fiercely at Zhao Zhitong.

But would Zhao Zhitong be afraid of her? Clearly not. She glanced at them smugly, then said to the vendor, "Vendor, we saw it first! You have to sell it to us."

"This..." The vendor suddenly found himself in a difficult position.

At this point, Wang Yanzi was so furious she lost all reason. She said directly to the vendor, "Vendor, I’ll pay four taels of silver! You tell me, who are you going to sell this hairpin to?"

Hearing the price had nearly doubled, the vendor’s eyes lit up. He immediately grinned obsequiously, "Ah, when selling things, it naturally goes to the highest bidder! Of course, I’ll sell it to you!"

Feeling victorious, Wang Yanzi instantly became smug, looking down her nose at Zhao Zhitong like a proud rooster.

She, a married woman, didn’t even consider that she was competing with a mere four or five-year-old child. It was simply shameless.

Zhao Zhitong, however, wasn’t angry at all. Instead, she shook her head, sighed, and looked at Wang Yanzi as if she were a fool. She even clucked her tongue twice. "TSK, TSK. You’re actually going to spend four taels of silver on a hairpin worth just over two? AI! Auntie, you truly haven’t studied, have you? You’re so foolish! Even my family’s pig knows which trough has more feed. Old woman," she said, turning to Wang Pozi, "you should quickly send your daughter to school to learn a thing or two."

Finally, she shrugged, looking very magnanimous. "Since you want it, and seeing as I’m younger and smarter than you, I’ll let you have it."

The little girl didn’t use a single profanity, yet she verbally demolished them, leaving them utterly mortified. The surrounding onlookers burst into laughter and began to tease them.

"Aiya, look at that! The little child is so sensible and generous, ha!"

"Exactly! This child is really a rare gem! So bright, and that little mouth, chattering away, is so articulate."

"Indeed! If this child were mine, I’d be grinning from ear to ear."

Then some people deliberately started ’advising’ Wang Pozi and Wang Yanzi.

"Hey, I say, Wang Pozi, look! The little girl has generously let your daughter have it. You all shouldn’t make things difficult for them anymore, ha."

...

Listening to the surrounding people, Wang Yanzi and Wang Pozi were so angry they were practically fuming. Wang Yanzi stomped her foot in fury.

Sun Lan even forgot to cry. She stared at Zhao Zhitong, her eyes wide. Glancing at the fuming mother and daughter, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of amusement. The Wangs are always the ones bullying others,

she mused. When have they ever been made this angry?

And Zhao Zhitong, having said she didn’t want it, truly didn’t. She pulled her older brother and sister along, trotting on her short legs to Zhao Dong’s side. "Daddy, let’s go look somewhere else."

Zhao Dong immediately grinned. "Alright, let’s go. We’ll look elsewhere."

Zhao Zhitong sat on the handcart and waved goodbye to Sun Lan. Zhao Dong then pushed the cart and left the area.

After Zhao Zhitong and her family departed, the vendor turned to Wang Yanzi, extending his hand. "Four taels of silver."

How could Wang Yanzi possibly pay? She tossed the box containing the hairpin onto the counter and said scornfully, "HUMPH! Four taels of silver? Why don’t you just go rob someone!"

With that, she turned and stormed off home in a huff.

This time, the vendor was truly enraged. Pointing at the retreating figures of the Wang mother and daughter, he started yelling, "HEY! Everyone, come and see! What kind of people are these? She jacked up the price herself, ruined my business, and now she doesn’t want it! If you don’t have the money, why pretend to be a big shot! You’re like a pig sticking a green onion in its nose—pretending to be an elephant! PAH! What garbage!"

Wang Pozi, meanwhile, glared furiously at Sun Lan. "Just you wait until we get home and see how I deal with you!"

Then, amidst the vendor’s curses and the crowd’s murmurs, she scurried home in disgrace.

...

After Zhao Dong and his family left, they came across a jewelry shop by the roadside. They went in and spent five taels of silver to buy Sun Mei a jade hairpin. It was similar in shape to the previous one; it too was carved with plum blossoms, but this one was clearly more exquisite and beautiful.

Moreover, Grandpa Bai said that this jade was also of better quality than the previous one.

After buying the hairpin for Sun Mei, they bought some sugar-roasted chestnuts. Then, the family headed towards the area where livestock and poultry were sold.

Along the way, Zhao Zhitong kept thinking about her timid little aunt, who was bullied by her mother-in-law’s family. She sighed continuously. Little Aunt is so pitiful, she thought. She has such a wicked mother-in-law and a hateful sister-in-law. But I can’t help my poor little aunt.

Seeing the little girl sighing, Grandpa Bai spoke up, "Child, as the saying goes, ’A pitiful person surely has a detestable side.’ What she’s going through now is what your little aunt brought upon herself back then. Besides, you can’t help her now. If she doesn’t toughen up herself, even if you helped her a hundred times now, it would be useless. She would still be bullied. Only when she herself becomes strong-willed will things change."

Zhao Zhitong pouted and nodded. Grandpa Bai is right, she thought. Weak people will definitely be bullied. In the future, I must not be weak like Little Aunt. If anyone dares to bully me, I’ll bully them back even harder!